French Toast Casserole

This one is an all time favorite in my house for the holidays! Takes only about a half hour to prep and 50 minutes to bake. I like to serve warm with maple syrup on top...

Sometimes I make this by layering the whole pieces of bread. After each layer I spread sliced apples and the brown sugar, vanilla,etc. I put the mixed eggs on top and put in fridge over night. Then in morning I put it in the oven before everyone wakes up. This is a perfect, no hassle xmas morning treat for the fam. Enjoy! 

Image and recipe adapted from AllRecipes.com

Ingredients

• 5 cups bread cubes
• 4 eggs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon margarine, softened
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly butter an 8x8 inch baking pan.
2. Line bottom of pan with bread cubes. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, milk, 2 tablespoons sugar, salt and vanilla. pour egg mixture over bread. Dot with margarine; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Combine remaining 2 tablespoons sugar with 1 teaspoon cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Bake in preheated oven about 45 to 50 minutes, until top is golden.

Homemade Rose Milk Bath - DIY Project

So, as the holidays have gotten closer and finals are rapidly approaching, I have been neglecting my homework and assignments to make holiday gifts! I stumbled upon this recipe and quadrupled it to make 12 bottles of "Homemade Rose Milk Bath".

Homemade Rose Milk Bath

• 1 1/2 cups powdered milk (full fat if you can find it, otherwise nonfat will work) I purchased this box from Walmart which was exactly enough for 12 milk bottles
• 1/2 cup Epsom salt
• 1/4 cup (or more) dried rose petals
• Red food coloring
• Rose essential oil

So I had originally read the recipe like this "Mix the powdered milk and Epsom salts together and add 2-3 drops of red food coloring. Mix until you have a uniform pink color." Then found out that the milk likes to absorb the food dye. I would recommend adding the color to the Epsom salts since they absorb color well, then mixing the powdered milk after.

Then add the rose petals and 5-7 drops of essential oil. If you don’t have rose essential oil you can skip it or use any other soothing essential oil you might have, like lavender or chamomile. Since I quadrupled the recipe I added close to 25 drops of Essential Rose Oil. Then pour milk bath into a bottle or sachet and make a pretty gift tag. I found super cute milk bottles at Michael's for their Black Friday sale - see them at the link here.

 These make for great gifts. Use 1 tablespoon per bath to enjoy the benefits of milk, Epsom and rose!

Add a nice label or personal holiday flair! Voila!

Bath Bomb Recipe

These make for great stocking stuffers, holiday gift exchanges and birthday presents. Here is my recipe for LUSH Bath Bomb Copycats. I watched a ton of youtube tutorials and played around with the recipes this weekend. Here is the recipe that worked well for me! Enjoy :)

This recipe makes 6 bath bombs.


1 cup baking soda
½ cup citric acid
½ cup cornstarch
½ cup epsom salt

1/4 cup melted coconut oil
2 tablespoons isopropyl alcohol
2 tablespoons drops of your favorite essential oils (I used vanilla and lavendar)
sprinkle of dried herbs

***Just use enough liquid to get the right texture, SLIGHTLY DAMP, you may not need this entire amount

STEP ONE - Combine dry ingredients:
2 Parts Baking Soda
1 Part Powdered Citric Acid *Cream of tartar can be substituted but your bath bomb will not fizz*
1 Part Corn Starch
1 Part Epsom Salt


STEP TWO -- Combine wet ingredients in separate bowl:
(since you don't need as much liquid, 'parts' here can be in smaller units, i/e tablespoons)
3 Parts  Melted Coconut Oil
1 Part Essential Oils
1 Part alcohol (optional) If you have it, use witch hazel, it makes for a better binder
**NOTE you do not want to use water as it will cause a chemical reaction and the product will activate. **

SLOWLY incorporate wet ingredients (and a few drops food coloring if you'd like) until the mixture is just damp enough that you can form a ball in your hand. It should be only slightly damp and NOT too wet. If the texture is too wet, add more dry ingredients. 

Place dried herbs at bottom of silicone molds.

Then pack mixture into silicone molds.  I purchased these from Michaels craft store.
Let them sit for 10 minutes in the molds. 
Put wax or parchment paper on a lined tin. After the molds have set, turn them over and tap the bombs out of the mold and let dry overnight.

Be sure to store these in an airtight container until ready for gifting. These bombs will last for up to 6 months.